Legal Definitions - spoliation

Spoliation refers to the intentional destruction, significant alteration, concealment, or failure to preserve evidence that is relevant to a legal case or potential legal case. It occurs when a party who has a duty to preserve evidence, typically because they are involved in or anticipate a lawsuit, fails to do so or actively takes steps to make that evidence unavailable.

If spoliation is proven, a court may infer that the missing or altered evidence would have been unfavorable to the party responsible for its destruction or concealment. This can result in serious consequences, including monetary penalties, adverse jury instructions (telling the jury they can assume the evidence was bad for the spoliating party), or even the dismissal of a case.

• Example 1 (Digital Evidence - Corporate): A large technology company is sued by a former employee for age discrimination. During the discovery phase of the lawsuit, the company's human resources department permanently deletes all internal emails and instant messages exchanged between the employee's manager and other HR personnel regarding the employee's performance reviews and termination, despite receiving a legal hold notice to preserve all relevant digital communications.

  Explanation: This is an act of spoliation because the company intentionally destroyed digital evidence (emails and messages) that was directly relevant to the discrimination lawsuit. By deleting these communications, the company prevented the former employee from accessing potentially crucial information, and a court could infer that these messages contained information unfavorable to the company's defense against the discrimination claim.

• Example 2 (Physical Evidence - Individual): Following a slip-and-fall incident at a grocery store, the injured customer's attorney requests to inspect the specific section of flooring where the fall occurred, suspecting a defect. Before the inspection can take place, the store manager orders the immediate replacement of that entire section of flooring, discarding the original tiles without documenting their condition or preserving them for examination.

  Explanation: This constitutes spoliation because the store manager intentionally caused the destruction of physical evidence (the original flooring) that was critical to determining the cause of the customer's fall. By replacing and discarding the tiles, the store prevented the opposing party from examining key evidence, which could lead a court to assume that the condition of the original flooring would have supported the customer's claim of a defect.

• Example 3 (Document Alteration - Contractual Dispute): Two construction companies are in a dispute over payment terms for a project. One company claims they were owed a bonus for early completion, while the other disputes this. Before exchanging documents in litigation, the claiming company's project manager uses correction fluid and a pen to add a clause about an "early completion bonus" to their copy of the signed contract, which was not present in the original agreement.

  Explanation: This is spoliation because the project manager intentionally altered a crucial legal document (the contract) that served as evidence in the dispute. By adding a clause that did not exist, the project manager attempted to fabricate evidence and mislead the court. A court would likely view this alteration as an admission that the original contract did not support their claim for a bonus.